Page 46 of The Bad Husband

Without a word, he moves to the refrigerator and retrieves a bottle of water.

I stare at his back, like a scarecrow propped on a fence, not knowing what to do.

What was that last thing that he just did? Was that a minuscule microphone?

That would explain why he knew my story before she or I could say anything to him.

Did he know she’d be back? Does he routinely plant microphones in the house?

He probably does, and they probably don’t stay in the same place for long, so she doesn’t find them.

That’s not funny.

Her heels click against the marble floor.

Man, was she fast or what?

She looms in the door wearing a beautiful, strapless red dress. The woman looks like a deity with her appetizing silhouette, sultry dress, and sassy attitude.

I know what made my father lose his head over her.

The question is, had Damon West lost his head over her?

And if he had, what was the meaning of that moment between us in his office?

What was the meaning of his asking me to stay?

“Don’t wait up,” she tosses at me from the door, a smug grin on her face as he walks her out of the house, while I feel like throwing up.

8

LILA

Since I have the house all for myself, I put on my new swimsuit and spend an hour in the pool.

I feel much better after stepping out, patting myself dry, and walking back into the house.

It’s about three in the morning when I finish showering and go to sleep.

As soon as I put my head down, I drift off to sleep.

It feels like I’ve slept a good eight hours when I snap my eyes open.

My forehead is dotted with warm sweat, while the remnants of a horrible nightmare still poke holes into my awareness.

“What was that?” I murmur, running the back of my hand over my brow, trying to remove that anxious feeling.

What was that dream all about?

A shudder sweeps through me when it dawns on me that my dream was about my father.

He looked good, young, and he was smiling as he was trying to tell me something.

A wall of glass erected between us made it impossible for me to hear him.

I press my hand to my chest, wishing my panic away.

A different dream preceded this one, and it was about Damon.